Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Short Interest Down 6.1% in November

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,820,000 shares, a decline of 6.1% from the October 31st total of 4,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 389,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.8 days. Approximately 8.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Cogent Communications Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of CCOI stock traded down $1.62 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $81.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 503,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 438,940. The company has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.78 and a beta of 0.39. Cogent Communications has a one year low of $50.80 and a one year high of $86.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $80.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.62. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported ($1.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.34) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $257.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.69 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. Cogent Communications’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.13) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications will post -4.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.995 per share. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. This represents a $3.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 510.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on CCOI shares. UBS Group began coverage on Cogent Communications in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America cut Cogent Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $65.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.25.

Insider Activity

In other Cogent Communications news, Director Blake Bath sold 6,220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.69, for a total value of $520,551.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $836,900. This represents a 38.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.76, for a total value of $69,168.96. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,500,623.04. This represents a 4.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,016 shares of company stock valued at $1,116,135. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. raised its stake in Cogent Communications by 0.5% in the third quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 41,079 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,119,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 1.1% during the second quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,407 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,095,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 72.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 536 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Cogent Communications by 5.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 4,984 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 204.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 405 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Company Profile

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides high-speed Internet access, private network, and data center colocation space services in North America, Europe, Oceania, South America, and Africa. The company offers on-net Internet access and private network services to law firms, financial services firms, and advertising and marketing firms, as well as heath care providers, educational institutions and other professional services businesses, other Internet service providers, telephone companies, cable television companies, web hosting companies, media service providers, mobile phone operators, content delivery network companies, and commercial content and application service providers.